


December 1290

by staticontheline



Category: Catherine Called Birdy - Karen Cushman, The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Diary/Journal, Fluff, M/M, POV Catherine (Catherine Called Birdy)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-08
Updated: 2020-11-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:54:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27451582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/staticontheline/pseuds/staticontheline
Summary: Catherine meets two strangers when she goes to the fair.
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Comments: 8
Kudos: 38





	December 1290

2ND DAY OF DECEMBER, _Feast of Saint Bibiana, beaten with leaden whips until she died_  
I snuck away from Morwenna this morning and went to the fair in Wooton. There were peddlers and players and hawkers selling every kind of food and drink. I bought sausages and bread, two meat pies, and an apple pastry, and ate it while I watched the puppet show. While I looked at the peddlers' wares, I saw two strange men. I did not speak to them in case the beast my father should hear of it and decide I must marry one of them, but I listened as I pretended to inspect ribbons from the ribbon seller. To other fairgoers, they spoke the King's English, each in his own foreign accent. To each other, they spoke a language the like of which I have never before heard. When they noticed I was listening, they only smiled and the bearded man winked at me. Mayhap I can escape Morwenna tomorrow and they will be at the fair again.

3RD DAY OF DECEMBER, _Feast of Saint Birinus, apostle of Wessex, first bishop of Dorchester, and builder of churches_  
Not only were they at the fair again, but they will be staying at Stonebridge Manor tonight! The bearded man is Josef and the blue-eyed one is Nicolo. They knew my uncle George when he fought in the Crusades and have stopped here on their way to seek him out. Mayhap they will have better stories than he did.

The Hour of Vespers, later this day: Nicolo speaks little at first but tells wonderful stories once he begins, about deathless heroes and long-ago battles. They are nearly as fantastical as uncle George's elephants.

4TH DAY OF DECEMBER, _Feast Of Saint Barbara, said to have been martyred in Nicomedia, Heliopolis, Tuscany, And Rome_  
Nicolo says he has been to Tuscany and Rome, but when I asked him to describe them he used words I did not know and he refused to translate. 

Josef is an artist to rival any monk in my brother Edward's abbey. I asked if he could tell stories like Nicolo and he said he could not, but he could draw my likeness if I had vellum to spare. I sacrificed a page from this journal after he showed me his pictures of Nicolo. They are so beautiful, it will be worth the page and ink. He is drawing me as I write this, so I will keep writing until he finishes.

Nicolo is a handsome man with deep set blue eyes and a beak of a nose. He has a slight accent that he said is Genoese, which is also the language he and Josef speak to each other most commonly. He is very kind, not teasing the maids or laughing at me for my dreams of being something other than a lady. Even the beast my father is quieter when Nicolo is around, although mayhap that is because he hopes Nicolo is taking an interest in me. If he were, I think I would not object, for he is kind and gentle and wise as well as handsome, but he is not. I have seen where his heart lives and it will never be with me.

Josef is a beautiful man with kind dark eyes and black hair and a black beard. He does flirt with the maids but he flirts with everyone, from the lowliest kitchen girl to my lady mother and clearly means nothing by any of it. Several of the ladies in the solar are besotted, but they do not know what I know.

Since none but Edward will ever read this, and they say they do not plan to come this way again, I will set down here what I saw. I was looking for Perkin to tell him of our visitors, because I am sure he would be interested in learning what he can of Genoese before they go, and in the grove by his grandmother's house I heard voices. I crept close as quietly as I was able and hid behind a tree to see who was there. What did I see then but Nicolo and Josef kissing! I crept away again and then ran to the meadow where Aelis and I used to meet to think on this. 

The priest would like as not say it is unnatural, although I am not sure if he would think it worse that they are both men or that one is a Moor, which is what Odd William says Josef is. Though I am not sure how he knows, Josef looks like any other man to me. I did not know that men could love men in such a manner, but I thought on the drawings Josef showed me and the look in Nicolo’s eyes and their hearts are so clearly entwined, I cannot question it. If I found a suitor who loved me as Nicolo and Josef love one another, mayhap marriage would not be such a terrible prospect.

Josef has finished drawing. It is beautiful.

5TH DAY OF DECEMBER, _Feast of Saint Crispina, who was shaved bald to humiliate her before she was beheaded_  
Today Nicolo and Josef leave, to continue their journey to visit my uncle George. I would they could stay longer, as my mother is happier and my father less foul when such kind guests stay here. Also I would like to hear more stories from Nicolo. My favorite is his tale of a woman who could not die, who fought with a sword in many battles until eventually she met another warrior who could not die and they traveled the world together, fighting against evil and saving unjust captives. 

I wish they would find me and save me from my father and his quest to sell me in marriage like he is selling a cask of ale.

6TH DAY OF DECEMBER, _Feast of Saint Nicholas, who loves children, pawnbrokers, and sailors_  
Our guests are gone, my mother is sad, my father is particularly beastly. Mayhap he truly believed Nicolo had his eye on me. I tried to run after them but Morwenna caught me and now she keeps too close a watch for me to escape. I fear it is hemming linens in the solar for me today.


End file.
